Armed robbers target local pharmacies

Published: Wednesday, January 2, 2013 at 06:23 PM.

On Dec. 15, police say a white man with a semi-automatic handgun entered the store around 6 p.m. He donned a red baseball cap, black sweatshirt and blue jeans.

He also had an accomplice, described as a white man, who reportedly drove a getaway car.

Then on Dec. 30, two men reportedly used a pry bar to break a lock at the store around 6:45 a.m. They stole 40-50 cartons of cigarettes.

Arrests haven’t been made in the cases but Detective Todd McDougal is examining forensic evidence that could lead to a suspect.

“They do it out of desperation for money and they also do it out of desperation for medication or other things they may be addicted to,” he said. “There’s no property at any store that’s worth anyone’s life. We’re absolutely thrilled that no one was hurt.”

The Kings Mountain Police Department is working with managers of drug stores offering tips on how to improve security.

It’s essential to obtain surveillance footage in the wake of a robbery, he said. Officers are also stepping up patrols in multiple areas and even going inside stores to walk around routinely.

Since Thanksgiving, several local chain drug stores have been robbed at gunpoint by men and women demanding prescription pills, then escaping before police officers arrive.

Authorities are investigating three such incidents but it appears the cases are unrelated, with different suspects captured on surveillance cameras.

An armed man suspected of robbing the Walgreens on East Franklin Boulevard in Gastonia is being held in a Tennessee jail and will soon face charges here, police say.

But several other people, including two men who robbed a Rite Aid Pharmacy in Kings Mountain and a woman who robbed a CVS Pharmacy in Stanley, remain at large.

One pharmacy, two thefts

Rite Aid Pharmacy at 601 E. King St., Kings Mountain, has been targeted twice in the past couple of weeks – once when an armed man demanded pills and again when suspects broke in to steal thousands of dollars worth of cigarettes.

On Dec. 15, police say a white man with a semi-automatic handgun entered the store around 6 p.m. He donned a red baseball cap, black sweatshirt and blue jeans.

He also had an accomplice, described as a white man, who reportedly drove a getaway car.

Then on Dec. 30, two men reportedly used a pry bar to break a lock at the store around 6:45 a.m. They stole 40-50 cartons of cigarettes.

Arrests haven’t been made in the cases but Detective Todd McDougal is examining forensic evidence that could lead to a suspect.

“They do it out of desperation for money and they also do it out of desperation for medication or other things they may be addicted to,” he said. “There’s no property at any store that’s worth anyone’s life. We’re absolutely thrilled that no one was hurt.”

The Kings Mountain Police Department is working with managers of drug stores offering tips on how to improve security.

It’s essential to obtain surveillance footage in the wake of a robbery, he said. Officers are also stepping up patrols in multiple areas and even going inside stores to walk around routinely.

Police say a white woman between 50 and 55 years old entered the store and showed a handgun. She left with an undisclosed amount of prescription drugs and remains at large.

The woman was captured on video surveillance as she entered the store wearing black pants, a blue shirt, and a black and white jacket. She wore a black toboggan with a blue stripe on it.

Accused drug store bandit nabbed

A man suspected of robbing the Gastonia Walgreens on Nov. 23 is being held in Sevierville, Tenn., awaiting extradition to North Carolina.

Arthur Charles Smith Jr., 57, will face a charge of robbery with a dangerous weapon, said Sgt. Jimmy Arndt with Gastonia Police Department.

Smith will also face charges for drug store robberies in Asheville and Kings Mountain. Police say Smith also robbed a pharmacy in the Greenville-Spartanburg, S.C., area and officers there apprehended him. He reportedly got out of jail in South Carolina and fled to Tennessee, but was arrested again.

Smith is accused of jumping the pharmacy counter at Walgreens and stealing more than $3,100 in prescription painkillers. Witnesses said he used a small silver revolver in the heist.